Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)

I was trying the subtle approach this time.

Following on from a question raised by Deputy Mac Lochlainn, the Taoiseach mentioned that the European Communities Act 1972 (Amendment) Bill is to be before the Dáil this term. It is No. 12 on the legislative programme. Can the Taoiseach confirm if the fiscal compact treaty or, to give it its correct title, the treaty on stability, co-ordination and governance in the expanded definition of EU treaties, will be included in that Bill or will that be stand-alone legislation? Can the Taoiseach inform the House when the 1926 census will be published and when the legislation to allow its publication will be before the House, given that this is a major part of the initiatives the Government have undertaken in terms of The Gathering in 2013?

My final question relates to the ordering of business and I can be guided on this. We will be dealing with Committee Stage of the Finance Bill next week and we must have our amendments submitted by 11 a.m. tomorrow, yet despite numerous requests for a briefing on the Bill and briefings on particular aspects of it, and the Taoiseach will agree this is a very technical Bill, Department of Finance officials have refused point blank to give a briefing to Opposition finance spokespersons at this point. A briefing will be given at some stage but it will be after amendments to the Bill have been submitted. It is appalling in terms of how we do our business-----

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